Inner Demons
by notnecessarilyinbetween
Summary: Natsume is abducted off the streets, right in front of Tanuma and Taki. Who did it? Why?
1. Chapter 1

Hello! Here goes another one, rated T for later chapters!  
>Natsume yuu-jin cho doesn't belong to me<p>

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><p>Natsume Takashi's mind was wondering as he stared out the window. It wasn't that he was bored of the class, in fact, it would most likely be useful if he did pay attention. However, something was wrong. Just like when he sensed a malevolent youkai, some strange sense told him that something <em>bad<em> was coming. He yawned as he tried to keep a watch over the school grounds. Finally, giving up on pretending to stay awake, he laid his head down on the desk.

"Stupid youkai, coming in at all hours,and Nyanko-Sensei was as drunk as ever!" He smiled a bit as he drifted off.

"OI NATSUME!" Natsume awoke with a jolt, head butting Nishimura. "AGH" both Nishimura and Kitamoto fell over, the first just lost his balance and the second was laughing hysterically. Natsume rubbed his head as he looked down at his glaring friend.

"Sorry, I was sleeping," Natsume tried to stop a smile.

"I know that! I was going to be a great friend and wake you up, maybe invite you to go biking with us, but then you head butted me!" Nishimura continued grumbling, but got up and tried to fake a disappointed look. Kitamoto had also regained his balance by that time, and he turned to look over to the door.

"Tanuma! Taki! you just missed something wonder-" Nishimura slapped his hand over Kitamoto's face, his own face beet red.

"Natsume," Taki walked over and looked at the two boys brawling for a moment, then seemed to ignore it, " we were wondering if you wanted to come with us up to Tanuma's?"

"My dad will be home, and I think he wants to get your advice on something," Tanuma added as he walked over.

"Umm," Natsume looked over at Kitamoto and Nishimura, who had stopped brawling at that point.

"Fine, we are going to read ero-manga without you!" Nishimura grabbed Kitamoto's sleeve and they both disappeared from the classroom.

"He is very hyper isn't he?" Taki asked as the three of them walked out of the school.

"Hmm," Tanuma hummed a reply as he watched Natsume flinch from time to time. It was always difficult watching his friend, his first friend, fight something that he couldn't see. He knew that Natsume tried to act normal around them, but he couldn't stop himself from being worried. Natsume stopped suddenly, and Tanuma froze, but then he saw a car had pulled up right next to where Natsume was standing. Natsume jumped back as the window rolled down, and Tanuma swore he saw something foreign flash over Natsume's face. It wasn't just fear... hatred was the closest term he could think of. Tanuma tried to see who was in the car, but Natsume blocked his view. Natsume suddenly stopped talking, and the door to the car opened.

"Sorry, Tanuma, Taki... I've got to...just tell Touko-san that I might not be home...and Nyanko-sen-" Natsume didn't finish his statement as he was pulled into the car and it drove away, the door slamming.

"Natsume!" Taki and Tanuma instantly tried to follow the car, but it was to far gone for them to catch up.

"What the hell just happened?" Tanuma turned to look at Taki.

"Was Natsume just kidnapped?" Taki seemed shell shocked.

"Taki? Did you hear anything?"

"Yes, but it didn't make sense..." She clenched her hand as she watched the dust disappear down the road, "We have to tell his cat, maybe he will know what is going on."

"Mm" Tanuma turned around and they both began running towards Natsume's house.

...

They had made it halfway there when Taki suddenly stopped, making Tanuma run into her, and left them both sprawling on the ground. In an instant she got up and yelled " Nyanko-Sensei, wait, we need your help! It's Natsume!" Taki suddenly stopped shouting, and Tanuma ( who had been trying to get up) suddenly was bowled over by the weight of a very large cat.

"What's he done know?" Nyanko- Sensei seemed completely nonchalant.

"He was kidnapped!" Taki began, " Someone in a car just came up and took him!"

Nyanko-Sensei started to yawn, but then stopped suddenly. He walked over to Taki and sniffed her school bag. Tanuma saw a flash of fear go through his eyes, and the hair on his back stood up.

"THAT IDIOT!" the cat suddenly seemed to change form, and dark waves rolled off of his body. He bolted away from them and back towards town with a muted "Nya."

...

Nyanko-Sensei followed the smell up to the spot where Natsume was taken, but the smell of the gas from the cars soon overpowered his noise.

"Idiot, the instant I go away he gets whisked off again and again, I've told him he should just give me the book already, WAAAH!" Nyanko-Sensei suddenly found himself flying through the air.

"Well, if it isn't the piggy cat!" a familiar voice remarked.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed it, please read and review!~not necessarily in between<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Madara was not in the best of moods. He had been enjoying himself all morning, maybe having a drink, or two, or three... in fact he had had such a wonderful morning he decided to go take a walk and maybe scare a dog or two, maybe grab the Book of Friends when Natsume wasn't looking. Unfortunately it was right as that thought crossed his mind that he was assaulted by the female Natsume had been hanging out with. She started blathering on about Natsume in trouble "Like usually" Madara thought to his esteemed self, but he stopped dead when he smelled the sent of something on the girls bag. He would recognize that smell in an instant, and he bolted to follow it. He was angry and cross by the time he got to the end of it, and was more than a little annoyed at Natsume's foolishness. He did not have time to grumble for long as he found himself picked up by none other then the useless exorcist, Natori.

"Well if you are here that means that Natsume must be around to," Natori scanned the crowd, still holding Nyanko-sensei up, "I thought I would pop by for a visit, where is he?"

"Hmph," Nyanko-sensei wriggled out of Natori's hands and jumped to the ground, "He's gone, taken, again."

"Youkai?" Natori's smile was wiped right off his face.

"No humans, one in particular, that Exorcist Matoba," Nyanko-sensei glared at Natori, "Seems like he picked him up right off of the street."

"Shit," Natori quickly pulled out his mobile, "Let me call my boss, I'll help you with this."

Nyanko-sensei did not respond, leaving Natori to work out the details of his schedule, but once he had finished on the phone, Nyanko-sensei began to walk away.

"There are about three major exorcist housings in this area," Natori mumbled as he walked, "One is usually pretty packed with exorcists, so I don't think he would have gone there, there is one in the forests, though it is pretty run down, and I have heard of a third one that is probably an hour or two away from here."

"Won't be the one in the forest, we've already been there," Nyanko-sensei groaned, "Stupid Natsume."

"Let's stop by the main housing first to see if we can pick up on any rumors of what he is planning," Natori led the way as they both disappeared from the vibrant city life.

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><p>I would say expect daily updates, except I have finals this week so I might not be able to update tomorrow, otherwise this should run smoothly!<br>I hope you enjoyed it!~not necessarily in between!


	3. Chapter 3

Tanuma and Taki hadn't been able to keep up with Nyanko-sensei, and instead went over to Tanuma's house. Tanuma had called up Touko-san and claimed that Natsume needed to stay over at his house for a couple of days for a school project. She laughed and told him to tell Natsume to watch out for himself.

"To late for that," Tanuma thought as he put down the phone. He moved into the main room to sit next to Taki. They needed a plan.

"It's at times like these that I really wish I could see youkai properly," Taki nearly whispered, "I mean, I can do the circles, but then I get so afraid, what if another youkai like the last one comes through."

Tanuma nodded his head, he really didn't know how Natsume did it, how he could live with both the youkai and the humans, "I don't know how we can help."

"Kaname?" Tanuma's dad's voice rang through the room, "I thought you were bringing Natsume with you?"

"He, he couldn't come," Tanuma tried to keep his voice calm.

"Oh, that is unfortunate, I thought he might be able to talk to the youkai in Yatsuhara again, he said that they were good, but I believe they have been very rowdy lately," Tanuma's father nodded and grumbled to himself.

Tanuma's eyes opened wide and he glanced over at Taki, who had the same expression, "You mean that area next to the forest? Natsume said he was friends with the youkai there?"

"He said they wouldn't cause any harm-" He was cut off as the two of them bolted from the room, "Tanuma?"

...

Tanuma stood and watched as Taki drew a giant diagram on the ground.

"Taki, even if dad said that they listened to Natsume, it doesn't mean that they will help us."

"That doesn't mean we can stop trying," Taki angrily drew into the ground.

"That isn't what I meant," Tanuma tried to placed a hand on Taki's shoulder, "I just mean, maybe we should think about this."

"We don't have time," Taki replied courtly, "the longer this takes, the less likely of a chance we have at finding Natsume."

She finished the circle with a flourish and looked over it. She inhaled and startled Tanuma as she shouted into the air, "Please help, Natsume is in trouble! I know you don't know us but please!" She turned around to Tanuma, "You can sort of sense youkai, right? Can you walk around this area and try to see if you can find any?"

Tanuma nodded and quickly walked away.

He had walked all around the Yatsuhara, sometimes calling out if he thought he felt something. It was over two hours by the time he got back to Taki's circle, and by the look on her face, she hadn't done any better.

"It isn't like we are surprised, I mean, we don't know nearly as much about youkai as Natsume does," Tanuma rubbed his forehead, "and he still has a lot of issues..."

"Tanuma," Taki stared up into the sky, " Does 'Reiko' mean anything to you?"

"No, I haven't heard of that, or is that a person?" Tanuma shrugged and looked over his shoulder at Taki.

"It is what they were talking about, Natsume and whoever was in that car," Taki sighed and hung her head, "I guess there is nothing we can do...'

Taki suddenly squared her shoulders and bounced up, looking over the circle once more, "Listen here, our friend Natsume is in trouble, even the cat is looking for him, now if any of you are his friends, or know what "Reiko" is... please... help us," she whispered the last part as she crumpled to the ground.

"Taki come on," Tanuma lifted her up off the ground, "we should go back to the temple,, get something to eat, maybe there is something about 'Reiko' in one of the books."

Taki nodded and stumbled after him.

"Natsume Reiko was a human who could see us without having to use any methods, unlike the two of you," a female voice drifted over to them, " you were yelling quite loudly, if you hadn't been asking about Natsume, some of us might have gotten angry."

Tanuma and Taki turned on the spot and saw a woman with short purple hair sitting in the middle of the circle. She stared right at them, "Well? What happened?"

Hinoe, as it turned out her name was, listened aptly to Taki, but for some reason seemed to ignore Tanuma (not that he was really hurt).

She sighed and began to smoke her pipe, "Someone knows about Reiko huh?" she blew a circle and watched it float through the air.

"Excuse me, but earlier you called her Natsume Reiko, does that make her-" Tanume tried to ask but was cut off with an exasperated look.

"This is why I hate men, they never know when to talk about what!" with a huff she put her pipe down, "Natsume Reiko was Natsume Takashi's grandmother, they have the same powers, though she wasn't such a weakling!" The youkai seemed to get angry even thinking about it, but slowly defused, "That being said, for a human to know about her limits it to only a few people, exorcists probably."

Before Tanuma or Taki could make a response, a ringing went throughout the area, a deep voice wrung out from the outside of the circle, "Hinoe? What are you doing here, I thought you would be with Natsume-dono; and who are they?"

Taki jumped up and Tanuma stiffened as a humungous horse head entered the circle.

"These," Hinoe said, pointing her pipe at them, " are friends of Natsume, they said he was kidnapped by a human who knew about Reiko."

The horse's eyes widened, "Hmmm, do you believe it to be the same one as last time?"

"It seems likely doesn't it?" Hinoe nodded, "We should find out where he is hiding this time, and find the c-listers!" she smiled as she said the last part.

"Umm, sorry, but do you know who has Natsume?" Taki looked up at the horse-youkai.

He lowered his head and stared right in her face, "You are the one who created this circle yes?"

Taki nodded.

"And you have a small ability to sense us, " He stated while he looked at Tanuma, who nodded as well.

The horse-youkai looked thoughtful for a bit, "You may call me Misuzu, and only because Natsume-dono is your friend. The person that has most likely taken him is an exorcist by the name of Matoba," at this Misuzu looked angry, "and if he knows about Reiko, then there are many things that Natsume-dono needs to look out for, Hinoe," she looked up, "help them see, I will get the c-listers and then we shall gather information from some of the youkai." He turned and disappeared out of the circle.

"Fine," Hinoe spoke out the smoke, then took a long drag and blew it directly in their faces. After the coughing fit subsided, Tanuma and Taki saw her holding two small necklaces in her hand, "As long as you have these you should be able to see us, though try not to cause to much trouble."

The two nodded and reached out their hands, grasping tightly onto the necklaces.

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><p>Yep, another chapter done :3!~not necessarily in between<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Madara didn't trust exorcists, no scratch that he loathed them. Most of the time they were useless, and the rest idiotic. The one thing that they were good for was gathering rumors about youkai. He grumbled as he waddled behind Natori, listening in to his conversations.

"Have you seen Matoba lately?"

"Has anyone been in contact with the main household?"

"Have you seen Natsume?"

Natori had been going around asking as many exorcists that he was familiar with as he could, but he got no answers. It seemed that none of the exorcists knew of Natsume, which might have been a good thing at any other point. Natori sighed as he moved on to the next group, but stopped when he saw a shikigami wave over at him. He moved over to the corner where it was and stopped to see a very old man in a mask sitting in front of him.

"Why do you ask about Natsume, Natori? I believe she was before your time," the man sat down and a small youkai knelt behind him.

"She?" but before Natori could continue his question Nyanko-sensei walked right in between them.

"You knew Reiko huh? She didn't get along well with humans, I'm surprised you people even know about her, and we aren't asking about that Natsume, we're talking about her grandson, Natsume Takashi," Madara huffed the last bit and glared at the old man.

"Reiko had a child?" the man froze up and then he dropped his head in his hands, "I see, that... no wonder...!" the man perked up, "does that mean that this child has the book?"

Madara growled and turned his head aside, not looking at the human.

Natori though, had had enough.

"Wait, what do you mean Natsume's grandmother was an exorcist? and what book?"

"Reiko was no exorcist," Madara huffed and glared at Natori, "If anything, she was the exact opposite!"

"Reiko Natsume was known as a bit of a fanatic," the old man sighed, "instead of being afraid of youkai, are wanting to stop them, she wanted to be friends with them, constantly challenging them."

"So a bit like Natsu-AGH" Nyanko-sensei head-butting Natori had succesfully ended that sentence.

"They are very very different," Nyanko-sensei almost sounded huffy, "Natsume Reiko was a very strong person, but she had no human friends and only a couple among the youkai. Natsume Takashi is weak most of the time...always getting dragged up into stuff...should really learn how to use his powers better...BUT he has looked for friends among them both, foolishness really, he should just give me the book-!" the cat smacked his mouth shut and glanced at the old man.

"Ah," the man breathed deeply, "so he does have it, the Book of Friends."

"Book of Friends?" Natori was getting more and more worried, "why is this book so important?"

Nyanko-sensei glared at the old man who grumbled a bit, "it is dangerous to speak of, Natori, and that should be all you really need to know. It is extremely powerful."

Nyanko-sensei glared up at the man, "How do you know this, no human should know any of this, did you know her?"

"No, but I have read about her..." a pained look crossed his face, "and you say that her grandson has gone missing?"

"No, he was kidnapped, most likely by Matoba," Natori looked down as he said that but was jolted back up by an explosion of noise from the old man

"WHAT! Did you say Matoba!" the old man seemed very frantic, "no, he was just in the records room, he could of... you two come with me, now."

The man bolted up and Natori and Nyanko-sensei quickly caught up with him. The entered a room that was full of scrolls and large piles of writings.

"Where is it, where is that blasted, he wouldn't have been allowed to leave with it...AH!"

the old man had been riffling through the shelves, and at last found a very old book. He looked down on it reproachfully, and laid it on a small table. Patting the cover gently, "I found this about ten years ago, it describes a ritual that was tried to gain power over some of the stronger youkai," the man stilled for a moment and he continued in a quiet voice, "it also details the death of Natsume Reiko... and if what you say is true, that her grandchild has been kidnapped by Matoba, then he might be wishing to...repeat..." The man couldn't continue, instead, he thrust the book into Natori's hands. "Take this, you two, and get out of here, hide it, tell no one that you have it with you! Now go, get out!"

He shoved Natori out of the door, and slammed it shut, nearly catching Nyanko-sensei's tail.

...

Natori and Nyanko-sensei were panting slightly as they finally made it to the inn where Natori was staying.

Natori laid the book out in front of them, and could feel the dread that hung around the two in the air.

"Let's get started."

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><p>Thanks for the reviews, they really brighten my day! Finals are over so the chapters should become more beefed out. ( I want to thank Azure for reminding me that I did not publish the chapter like my brain said I did :3 ) anyway, please enjoy~not necessarily in between!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Natsume tried to curl up as far away from Matoba as he possibly could, which he was able to do pretty well in the very large limousine. Matoba had not said a word after the first couple of phrases that made Natsume get in the car.

...

"It's been a while, Natsume-kun, I found something in our records the other day about your grandmother, and I thought you might want to look at it."

"Nothing big, but to see it you have to come with me."

"Fine, but then I wont tell you about the reason your Natsume Reiko died."

...

Natsume was stirred out of his reverie by a slight bump that the car just went over.

"Where are we going?"

Matoba looked up from the notepad in his lap and smirked, "I have another house only an hour or so away, you don't need to worry about that."

Natsume didn't reply, and looked back outside the window. "I'm pretty sure Nyanko-sensei is going to be upset with me again, and I must have frightened Tanuma and Taki. I will have to make it up to them when I get back," Natsume thought, and then he sighed and shook his head.

"Were those your friends?" Matoba broke the silence in the car and Natsume stirred, "Almost like he read my mind" he thought before he replied, "Maybe."

"And do they know what you are?" Matoba was looking intently at Natsume, who turned to face the window again.

"Quite talkative aren't you, or maybe you are frightened, you don't need to worry Natsume-kun, I don't have any interest in the Book that you are hiding in your bag," Matoba's grin widened as Natsume bolted up right, "I told you, I found some things out about your grandmother, that Book there, though interesting, is the least important."

Natsume was frozen in his seat, trying to find something to say. He wanted to know...wanted to know what happened to his grandmother, wanted to know how Matoba of all people found it. He needed to know.

Swallowing and turning to face Matoba once again Natsume spoke in a calm tone, "What do you know about my grandmother, and why would you come to me to talk about it?"

Matoba seemed to relax when the question was asked, and he leaned over across the room in between them and held out the notepad. Natsume took it, but before he could open it Matoba began to talk, "Our records libraries are very extensive, and it is mere luck that I happened across one that happened to mention 'Natsume.' It was all about your grandmother, in fact it was extremely detailed," Matoba seemed to think over that point for a while before moving on, "She did not like humans, least of all exorcists, she ran around all day beating youkai and causing trouble. She was shunned by everyone around her. But that wasn't to say that exorcists weren't interested in her. You know you are very powerful, though you can't seem to use it properly?" Matoba paused there and looked over at Natsume again. Natsume just stared back. "Hmmm," Matoba laughed a little, "Yes, so much power, but both of you were not using it properly. I guess that kind of idiocy runs in the family. Some of the exorcists wanted to know why she was so powerful, and so they asked her to come and meet with them. She spurned them off of principle, which is foolish as they would have been the only people to understand her, once again the same as you."

Natsume was becoming even more wary as Matoba kept speaking. Something was wrong with his tone, he was looking straight ahead of him and he was perfectly still. "Wrong, wrong, something is wrong here," Natsume chanted in his head, glancing out the window to see the sun had started setting and that he was in an area he had never seen before. A hand grabbed his chin and spun him around to stare point blank into Matoba's eyes, and the man started speaking again, "Then the exorcists grew angry, why should that one person have so much power, and waste it when so many other were dying because they could not protect themselves. How childish, how selfish," Matoba leaned forward gripping tightly onto Natsume's shaking arm, and he started to whisper directly next to Natsume's ear, "how loathsome."

Natsume could feel the smirk that was on Matoba's face, and another shudder went down his spine. He couldn't move, Matoba was fairly strong, and he was frozen in his seat. "Why should she get the power, when others deserve it more? That is when they decided to take the power from her, so they could use it, but it would be difficult. We have ways to take power from youkai easily, but she wasn't one, she was human. For youkai the best time to take their powers is when they are fighting, for humans," Natsume felt something sharp dig into his skin, and suddenly the he felt as if he was falling. He tried to latch onto something, anything, when a quiet voice seemed to overwhelm his senses, "it is when they die."

...

Matoba moved back to his seat, taking the notepad with him, and staring at the design inside. The drive would only last fifteen more minutes, and he hoped that everything was prepared. He stared over at the unconscious body of Natsume Takashi, and stowed the syringe away in the seat pocket. He began to mutter,"but the problem is that they couldn't do it right. They failed. The only thing they succeeded in was killing Natsume Reiko." Matoba stooped forward to glare at Natsume, and then he laughed, " they didn't even know she had a child, if they had... well, I guess they would be doing what I am doing know, after all, it was my grandfather and his brother." Matoba shifted to watch as a building seemed to appear out of the mountains, and sighed as the doors open, he got out and sent some shikigami to bring Natsume inside. Matoba smiled as he moved to his study, because unlike what his grandfather had done, his would work perfectly.

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><p>Thank you so much for the reviews! The only thing that belongs to me is the plot!<br>I hope you enjoyed it~ not necessarily in between!


	6. Chapter 6

Natori dropped the book on the ground and rushed out of the room. Nyanko-sensei heard as the man barely made it to the toilet, but he was frozen in place. He turned to see Hiiragi also staring blankly ahead. Nyanko-sensei looked down at the book again, and suddenly the numbness that filled his mind gave way to pure rage. He growled and began to shift, "THOSE HUMANS, THEY DARE!" another growl escaped and suddenly Natori flew back in the room and grabbed a pack he had left by the small bed, "We need to go, NOW."

Madara watched as the man scrambled to the door, growled again, and launched himself at Natori. In one swift movement he had picked up Natori and jumped out the window.

"THIS WAY IS FASTER" Madara white fur seeming to grow darker with each word stated.

Natori nodded and grabbed on as to not fall off. Hiiragi was mercifully quiet next to him. It was Natori's fault, he had brought Natsume to that first meeting with the exorcists, he had been the one to try to introduce him. Even though he had tried to save him from Matoba-he stopped his inner monologue to calm his stomach. That book, that disgusting recounting of nothing worse then a horror story. He couldn't let that happen to Natsume, he couldn't let the ritual happen, let the blood sacrifice occur the- his stomach clenched again and Natori made himself focus on what he would have to do to get through the mansion.

Madara on the other hand couldn't focus on anything. His thoughts shifted from finally knowing how Reiko died, to that BASTARD exorcist, to hoping, no, praying that Natsume was still alright. He had only one goal in his mind, and that was to find the mansion. Natori spoke up every once in a while to make sure they were going the right direction, but other then that it was complete silence. Madara had erased every other distraction in his single-minded pursuit that he did not notice when a shadow swept above him. However he had to pay attention when a large shape moved right next to him.

"Madara," Misuzu spoke, "We will help you with Natsume-dono."

Madara just nodded and began to fly even faster nodding at Hinoe and the C-listers, but nearly stopped when he saw who were on Misuzu's back. "THEY CAN'T COME," the growl breaking through the silence.

...

Tanuma and Taki had had the strangest day of their lives. After grabbing the necklaces they were submerged in a different world. There were so many youkai, everywhere!

"Don't look at them, and come with me," Hinoe grabbed Taki by the hand, who then grabbed Tanuma, and they marched through the Yatsuhara. Hinoe would stop at points and scare some other youkai, but she would always come back and try to move at a faster pace. It must have been an hour later when Misuzu joined back up with them, along with two other youkai that were holding strange banners stating "Save Natsume-sama!" They had moved close to the city, and Tanuma could see that Taki was struggling as much as he was. Tanuma suddenly fell to the ground, clutching his head. Misuzu turned to look at him before suddenly turning right back around to look at a large tree ahead.

"Who are you?"

Nothing moved, and then an old man with a strange masked walked out from behind the tree.

"Are you trying to find Natsume?"

The old man had talked for a short while with Misuzu, then he disappeared as suddenly as he came.

Misuzu turned to look at the humans he had brought along with them and stepped forward, "I know where Natsume-dono is, you should leave now, there is nothing left that you can do here."

"We want to help, Natsume is our friend!" Taki shouted before anyone else could react.

"And that is exactly why you should not come,"Misuzu shifted his head away, "I do not think where we go is a place for friends such as you."

"What do you mean?" Tanuma had finally controlled his headache and looked up, "are we not good enough?"

Misuzu looked back down at the two of them and stared intently, "You are friends of his , and that is exactly why you can not come."

"Why?" Taki moved forward to stand right in front of Misuzu.

Misuzu stared back down at her, not saying a word, but a his face suddenly dropped, he shifted forward a bit, "If you believe you must then you may come, but remember I warned you."

...

Tanuma and Taki startled at the harsh tone and found Nyanko-sensei (Taki told Tanuma when they first saw him that that was Natsume's cat, Ponta) glaring right at them. Before either could respond Misuzu spoke out, "They wanted to come, and it does not matter at this point. We must hurry."

Tanuma noticed that a human that looked a bit similar to Natsume was with Ponta, but before he could comment a large building appeared. Within seconds of seeing the building shouts and bells started ringing.

"They were expecting us," Misuzu began to dive towards the ground.

"BUT THEY DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE UP AGAINST," Madara growled and his fur began to shift to an even darker color, with a flash he had hit the ground and was tearing through shikigami that were trying to block them, another flash and the large door to the compound was blown off its hinges, a yell from Natori the only clue as to where Madara had gone. Misuzu soon followed, Hinoe and the C-listers came after him, making sure that everything on the grounds had gone still.

Madara flew through the buildings, trying to find Natsume. He could smell him, to the right, and began to follow the path. He didn't notice as exorcists and their tamed youkai came after him, not noticing as Natori and Hiiragi kept them at bay, not noticing Misuzu following his lead. However he soon stopped, nearly throwing Natori clean off of his back. Natsume's bag was leaning against the wall of a small room, a small room that had a door that was partially open. But it wasn't the sight of the bag that made Madara stop, it was the smell. He shoved himself through the room and made Natori slide off so he could move through the door, hooking the bag onto his tale before he went through, dread coursing through his body. He squeezed through the doorway and stopped, blocking everyone else from coming through. He whimpered, and found himself pushed forward by Misuzu, he stepped forward once and Natori, Hiiragi, Misuzu, Taki, Tanuma, Hinoe, and the C-listers moved through the door.

Tanuma first noticed a young man with a gloating look on his face and very long black hair, then moved to see some kind of pile in the middle of the room, moving again and seeing strange drawings on the ground done in red paint, eyes flickering, noticing the pile on the middle had some strange thing near it, some kind of stick, moving back to the man who's grin was widening, the man was speaking, why couldn't he hear it, what was that sound, his heart? Why was his heart beating so quickly? What was that pile with the thing sticking out of it...out of it? The pile. It. He. Tanuma grabbed Taki and held his arm over her eyes, but she had already frozen, tears streaming down her face.

"You're a bit late you know," Matoba smiled, looking over at the group that clung to the doorway. He walked into the middle of the design drawn onto the floor, it would be a terror to wash off, it had taken forever to get the stuff of his hands, in fact a bit of the red was still coated onto his sleeve, drying into a rusty brown. He walked over to the ceremonial sword that had been put in the middle of the design. He grabbed the hit and with a sickening noise it rose out of Natsume Takashi's unmoving body.

"But I'm glad you came."


	7. Chapter 7

"You see, I need to test if I actually separated Natsume's powers from him," Matoba tossed the sword aside and rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a small gem, "if this ritual was used on any one else, they would have just lost their powers and sight and gone back to being a normal human. But for some reason the Natsume line must have a kind of mutation, see look, the sword wasn't even in a vital area," Matoba nudged Natsume's body with his foot, " he hasn't even bled out, being separated from his power is what destroyed him, GET BACK."

Madara stopped in his tracks, as the small gem lit up and a force pushed against him.

"I see, it does work doesn't it," Matoba smiled and looked down at the gem, "the crystalized form if you must know."

"You-you BASTARD!" Taki surged forward and went to hit Matoba, but a shikigami grabbed her arm and lifter her up, her feet dangling, "let me go you freak! Natsume, why? Why did you do that?" Taki growled and squirmed to try to get free.

"It was necessary, you can take the body and grieve if you want, I will even let those youkai have a free pass," Matoba smiled, still holding the small gem.

In one movement Madara, Misuzu, and the C-listers moved forward.

"Or not," Matoba pocketed the gem and swung his bow around, "I was giving you a chance."

"A chance," a voice rung out from behind his ear, " this is a chance for us to revenge Reiko and Takashi."

Matoba dove just out of Hinoe's reach before putting an arrow on the string, "Now, now, ugh"

Shikigami grabbed Matoba and dragged his arm up, lifting the bow away. Natori stood hidden behind Misuzu's bulk, glaring over at him.

"Oh,so an exorcist is joining with the rogue youkai, whatever am I going to do," a smile and a flash, the gem was back in his hand, the shikigami destroyed and the youkai forced to step back, "I'm going to practice."

Madara threw himself at Matoba but was forced back against the wall, a shield had been erected around him. He lazily grabbed his bow and another arrow and pointed it straight at Hinoe, "Who wants to go first?"

Tanuma watched as the youkai bounded all over the room, crashing into the shield and dodging arrows. The exorcist, the one that looked a bit like Natsume was making some symbols on the ground and calling up some more youkai. Tanuma moved his focus to Taki who was still stuck in the air, intermittently kicking the paper thing holding her up. He moved quickly around the room and grabbed one of its legs, making it drop Taki. He rolled out of the way as it came for him and jumped back as Ponta flew by, shredding it into pieces. "Tanuma," Taki gasped, "We need to see him."

"I don't think we should- Taki!" Tanuma stumbled forward as Taki apparently didn't hear him and walked towards the center of the design. Tanuma followed, ducking around the chaos that filled the area, one of the youkai getting hit in the arm, the shield flaring up each time a new youkai had run into it. He stopped and knelt next to Taki, who had placed Natsume's head on her lap. Tanuma did not look at the body; instead he just grabbed onto Taki shoulders, and tried to calm a roaring headache.

Something was wrong. Taki could just tell. She looked down at the body, not looking at the face, not yet. Something was out of place. She looked over at the wound instead, which had gone through Natsume's right shoulder, and not all the way through, just to the bone. "I know he is dead," Taki closed her eyes and thought, "but that's not it."

She glanced quickly at Natsume's face. His eyes were closed, his jaw was clenched. She put her fingers on his neck, ignoring the sticky feeling of the blood that had pooled next to his shoulder. Nothing. No movement. No breathe, not even one little heart beat. Tears began to fall again. Taki felt as Tanuma pitched forward, gasping as he was raked over the head by a shikigami.

"Tanuma!"

"I'm fine, ouch," Tanuma smiled and rubbed his head, "We need to get out of here."

Taki shook her head and tightened her grip on Natsume's wounded shoulder, "we can't leave him here!"

"I didn't say that, I just mean there is little that we can do to help them, and at this rate..." Tanuma struggled to keep his voice calm, still not looking towards Na- the pile, "at this rate everyone in this building is going to die."

Taki let her head hang down, but stiffly nodded. A blast went right over where her head had been and with a cry she fell over onto Natsume. She looked up and saw an arrow sticking out of the wall. "We need to leave now," Tanuma grabbed Taki's arm and moved her up, "Here, I will grab- what?" Taki turned at the strange tone Tanuma used. "Tanuma?"

"He isn't there!" Tanuma turned and looked around, clenching his eyes and running a hand over his aching temples.

"What do you mean, he is right here?" Taki grabbed Natsume's shoulder and heaved his body up a bit.

Tanuma was staring right at Taki, his eyes wide open, he gulped and quickly breathed out, "Taki... you aren't holding on to anything."

* * *

><p>Evil cliffy again, sorry! Anyway, please enjoy!<br>~not necessarily in between


	8. Chapter 8

Tanuma watched as Taki gave him a quick once over, but it was true! Taki was just sitting there with her hands splayed over...nothing. He quickly glanced over his own body, maybe something was wrong with him, he looked over to where the Exorcist was standing and firing arrows. At nothing. His fingers scrambled to his neck. The necklace was gone, but that would mean... "Taki, put Natsume down and come over here," Tanuma's voice was stone cold.

"What? Tanuma, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just put him down!" Tanuma yelled out, not noticing that the fighting had stopped, and that all eyes were on him.

"Tanuma? You...why?

"I can't see him, Taki," Tanuma was frozen in place, then moved forward and grabbed onto Taki's necklace, untying it, and watched Taki's face as it slid off. Her eyes widened comically, then she squeezed her hand. Yes, something was there she could feel it, but she couldn't see it.

Was Natsume a youkai?

Wait, what was that?

Taki shoved her necklace back on, her hands trembling. She ghosted her hand towards Natsume's neck again. It was there. A faint pulse. She moved her hand over his mouth and felt the warmth of the air he was breathing out.

She moved him back to the floor, and whispered, "Natsume?"

With one smooth movement Natsume's eyes opened and he shot up, breathing heavily. Taki shuddered back though, because it wasn't Natsume. Its eyes were darker and the air around it was heavy. A smile slowly voyaged across its face.

"N-Natsume?" Taki scooted back and grabbed at Tanuma's hand, making him move back as well.

"I never would have guessed! Well, maybe I should have," Matoba's voice bounced across the room, "He's part youkai! No wonder our records didn't show the continuation of the Natsume line." The smile that Matoba had been wearing for most of the fight soon slid off, his face was set, "but why would any human want to be with a youkai. Maybe Reiko was r-" Matoba flew back as something collided with the shield, breaking it, and shoving him into the wall.

Madara watched as the not-Natsume moved through the shield to punch Matoba. This wasn't right, if Natsume had been part youkai, he would have been able to sense it. Not-Natsume stood right in front of him, yet... it's energy was so dark it took a lot of effort to just take one step-

_A youkai aura. immensely powerful, stronger then anyone Madara had met before. It was reveling in its power at first, but it seemed like each day a light was growing stronger. It soon blocked out all of the youkai powers. Shoving it backwards, surrounding it on all sides. Keeping it separated. _

Another step forwards

_Natsume was seven, and had been made fun of again, he shook his head and bottled up his feelings. He wouldn't, no, he couldn't act on them. Hatred and anger were things he did not need. He shoved them into the back of his mind. He also tried to shove all his loneliness there, but it always over-flowed. _

A growl and another step

_Natsume was around ten, and had just moved again, there was a youkai after him, but he couldn't get away from it. It was strong, stronger then anything he had faced before. He couldn't beat it, it grabbed him and was stealing his powers, his mind blanked out..._

_He awoke on the forest floor, no youkai were in site. He sighed as he saw how messy his clothes were, and began the long walk home. _

"NATSUME, STOP!" Madara growled as he struggled to move forward.

The not-Natsume stopped, he was holding the bloody sword that Matoba had thrown away as useless. He was pointing it a Matoba, but turned away from his crumpled body and pointed it straight at Madara.

"Why?" His eyes was wide and innocent, "Why should I stop?"

"Are you trying to kill him!" Madara noticed that the others had gathered a good distance behind him.

"Yes, he deserves it."

Madara stopped his eyes widened, "Is that what you want?"

"I don't know, ask Natsume" it replied as it moved forward again.

Madara surged forward and pinned not-Natsume to the floor, "What are you?"

Not-Natsume grinned and began to push up against Madara's paw that was holding him down, "I'm were Natsume pushes all of his resentment and anger," the power was growing stronger, "do you really think someone like him would end up being a goody-two shoes after all he has been through!" Madara shifted his head back from the power, but made sure his paw still crushed not-Natsume to the floor.

"Do you really think he should have survived this long!" not-Natsume was staring straight up at the ceiling, his voice straining with the power that he needed to use.

"I have wondered," Madara tensed his muscles as the thing tried to get up again, "so you protect him?"

"I protect myself, but the only time I can is when our spiritual energy is exhausted," not-Natsume grew angrier and angrier, black whirls of energy swirled around Madara.

Taki grabbed Tanuma's arm and stealthily moved around the chaos that was happening. Tanuma's eyes were shut, and he was breathing deeply, "You okay Tanuma?"

"Sorry," he whispered, "I'm a little sensitive to youkai." Taki nodded, but continued to drag him forward. She stopped and looked down at the exorcist. His head was a little bloodied up, but he seemed fine otherwise. She stooped down and grabbed the small gem from his hand. Warmth filled her entire body, and she felt all of her nerves calm down. She moved back towards the pure black that was once Natsume.

Madara was struggling to hold him down, each second drew closer to the time when he would be thrown back, then what would happen?

"Would Natsume want you to kill?" Madara knew that this was his last chance.

"Natsume wants lots of things that he doesn't know about," not-Natsume suddenly stilled at that thought, "He always hides them, even from himself." Not-Natsume looked wistfully up at Madara, "which means they always come to me, you can only hide for so long, and now I am in control!" He jerked up and Madara was thrown back, straight into Misuzu. He scrambled to get up, but saw it was to late. Not-Natsume turned to go back to Matoba and ran straight into Taki's outstretched hand, her hand that had the gem in it.

Everyone stopped. Taki stood directly in front of not-Natsume, pushing her hand directly above his heart. Not-Natsume shuddered and tried to move back, but was paralyzed. Taki shoved harder, and felt as the gem began to sink back into Natsume.

"Why?" Not-Natsume looked her in the eyes.

"Because you're not all of Natsume," Taki kneeled as not-Natsume sank to the floor, "and you know that too."

"I hate you all," not-Natsume's voice was full of pain.

"I hate you," his voice grew softer.

"Stop this," he began to lean backwards, but before she could grab him he fell onto Nyanko-sensei who had curled up behind him.

"I don't...want...to," not-Natsume's eyes fluttered.

"So...alone," his eyes were lightening.

"I don't want to be alone," Natsume whispered and tears sprung to his eyes. He leaned back fully and was soon unconscious, cushioned on Nyanko-sensei.

Tanuma slowly moved forward and grabbed Natsume's hand. He smiled and looked up at the group that had gathered around them.

"He's alive."

* * *

><p>You didn't think I could actually kill of Natsume did you? (I love him too much) and we are not done yet, so please keep reading and reviewing! At least this one doesn't have an evil cliffy! Thank you for all the reviews, they make my day~not necessarily in between<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Nyanko-sensei was sitting right next to Natsume's head, watching as he slowly breathed in and out. Nyanko-sensei shifter a little, and curled up next to him, keeping one eye open to watch the slow in and out.

After the fight they had brought Natsume back to Tanuma's house and he hadn't woken up for two days. Tanuma had called Touko-san and just told her that they had been really busy, but Natsume would call as soon as he could. She seemed to take it well. Tanuma held his necklace in his hand, he had picked it up from the floor. He was sitting and looking at the small pond in his yard, the pond with the fish that he could never have seen before. He smiled a bit as he remembered when he truly had realized that Natsume could see so much more then he could, when he found out that those fish were red. He heard quiet footprints come up next to him, and Taki sat down with a sigh.

"It is so different now," Taki stared out across the forest.

"Yeah," Tanuma nodded.

"I...I don't know if I like seeing what Natsume sees," Taki curled up on herself and hugged her knees to her.

"I think that it is useful," Tanuma nodded to himself, "to finally be able to see what he sees."

Taki curled up further and put her head down, "when is he going to wake up?"

"We just have to wait."

"WAAH," Natsume jolted awake, but immediately sank back down into the pillows. He slowly opened his eyes, trying to place where he was.

"IDIOT NATSUME," Nyanko-sensei scrambled back onto the bed from where he had been chucked off, "YOU IDIOT! WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING! DON'T YOU KNOW BY NOW NOT TO GO WITH STRANGERS!"

"Nyanko-sensei," Natsume winced and tried to sit up.

"Don't even try it," Nyanko-sensei moved to sit on Natsume's chest, "you've been unconscious for two and a half days, and you were DEAD, so you are not moving."

"What?" Natsume shook, "what do you mean that I died!"

"EXACTLY WHAT I SAID!" Nyanko-sensei growled, but he seemed to deflate, "Natsume... what do you remember?"

"Umm..." Natsume hummed a bit, and settled down in the pillows, " Matoba said he knew something about Reiko," Natsume looked away, "and then I just fell asleep...the book!" Natsume tried to get up, but Nyanko-sensei just huffed and pointed to the stand by the wall where Natsume's bag was hanging.

"Idiot"

Natsume smiled and began to relax again, he laid his hand and began to pet Nyanko-sensei, "Thank you sensei."

"Hmph."

"You should thank us as well Natsume-dono," Misuzu was looking through the window.

"Stupid boy," Hinoe walked into the room, stowing her pipe. The C-listers followed in after yelling "Natsume-sama!"

Hinoe looked him up and down, causing Natsume to blush and fidget under the covers.

"Well, now that you are alright boy we need to go back, we can't spend every moment looking after you," Hinoe smiled and began to walk back out of the room.

"Thank you," Natsume smiled and felt his eyes begin to shut.

"Go back to sleep, idiot."

...

Natsume woke again in about half a day, and was able to sit up this time. He got told off by a quiet Tanuma and a sobbing Taki. Natori stopped by to scold Natsume as well. Madara was quiet after his initial outburst. Natsume was well enough by the end of the day to head back to his house. He thanked Tanuma's dad, and also promised Tanuma to not get into trouble on his way home. He trudged back with Nyanko-sensei at his heels.

Natsume was getting a bit weirded out by Nyanko-sensei weird silence, but soon found himself not caring too much as he fell back on his bed.

"Natsume"

"Yes?"

"..." Natsume looked over to see Nyanko-sensei shuffling about a bit.

"Yes? Nyanko-sensei?"

Nyanko-sensei shuffled a little bit, then set himself, "You're a youkai."

"What?" Natsume looked up and creased his eyebrows, "what?"

"You are part youkai," Nyanko-sensei walked up to him, "your spiritual powers hold it down, but you are."

"But...I'm human... aren't I?" Natsume's face scrunched up a bit.

"Yes," Nyanko-sensei grumbled, "but you are also a youkai."

"How?" Natsume turned his head down.

"Reiko probably loved a youkai," Nyanko-sensei waddled forward and curled up on Natsume's lap.

"I don't know what to think about this," Natsume hugged Nyanko-sensei to him.

"Hmph, it isn't really important because you can't do anything about it, now go to sleep, I haven't had a drink in five days!" Nyanko-sensei grumbled.

Natsume smiled a bit and curled up under his blankets.

About ten minutes later Natsume spoke out into the darkness, "Do you think my grandfather is still alive?"

"Probably"

"..."

Nyanko-sensei rolled over to look at Natsume.

"Will you help me find him?" a small whisper came from the pile of blankets.

"Hrmm, get me a manju and I will think about it," Nyanko-sensei rested his head and drifted off to sleep.

Natsume smiled and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>That is the ending of Inner Demons, but don't worry, the story will be continued soon :) I have at least two more full length stories planned out, so please check back!<p>

Also I want to thank all the people that reviewed, favourited, etc. especially you guys who read since the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed Inner Demons!  
>~not necessarily in between<p> 


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